Eagle Butte West coal lease application : draft environmental impact statement

2006·125.9 MB·English

by  United States. Bureau of Land Management. Casper Field Office

BLM LIBRARY
88066804
DRAFT
Environmental Impact Statement for the
Eagle Butte West Coal Lease Application
WYW155132
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October 2006
MISSION STATEMENT
It is the mission of the Bureau of Land Managment to sustain the health, diversity,
and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and
future generations.
BLM/WY/PL-06/027+1320
BLM Library
Denver Federal Center
Bldg. 50, OC-521
P.O. Box 25047
Denver, CO 80225
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Take Pride'
■n^m ERICA
Wyoming State Office
P.O. Box 1828
In Reply Refer To:
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003-1828
3425 (LBA)
WYW155132
(922 Janssen)
Phone No.: 307-775-6206
Fax No.: 307-775-6203
September 21, 2006
Dear Reader:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared this Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) to document and disclose the results of an environmental analysis of an
application received by BLM to lease a tract of Federal coal, the Eagle Butte West Tract, to
the Eagle Butte Mine in the Wyoming Powder River Basin. A copy of this document is
provided for your review and comments. The Draft EIS may also be reviewed on the BLM
Wyoming homepage (www.wy.blm.gov). Copies of the Draft EIS are also available for
public inspection at the following BLM offices:
Bureau of Land Management Bureau of Land Management
Wyoming State Office Casper Field Office
5353 Yellowstone Road 2987 Prospector Drive
Cheyenne, WY 82009 Casper, Wyoming 82604
A formal public hearing on this application to lease Federal coal will be held at 7:00 p.m. on
November 14, 2006, at the Clarion Hotel, 2009 South Douglas Highway, Gillette,
Wyoming. The purpose of the hearing is to receive comments on the proposed coal lease
sale, on the fair market value, and on the maximum economic recovery of the Federal coal
resources included in the tract.
BLM has prepared a separate document entitled Supplementary Information on the Affected
Environment in the General Analysis Area for the Eagle Butte West Coal Lease Application
EIS in addition to this Draft EIS. This document, which is available on request, includes
more detailed site-specific information about the potentially affected resources included in
the study area for Eagle Butte West Tract.
BLM will accept public comments on this Draft EIS, for sixty (60) days commencing on the
date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes a Notice of Availability in the Federal
Register. Comments received after the end of the 60-day comment period will be
considered in preparation of the Final EIS as time permits. BLM is also publishing a Notice
of Availability and Notice of Hearing in the Federal Register.
3425 (LBA)
WYW155132
(922 Janssen)
Page 2
cite the location or locations in the document on which you are commenting. The agencies
involved in preparing this Draft EIS are required to respond in the Final EIS to all
substantive comments submitted on the Draft EIS. Substantive comments should: (1) give
any new information that could alter conclusions; (2) show why or how analysis or
assumptions in the Draft EIS are flawed; (3) show errors in data, sources, or methods; or (4)
request clarifications that bear on conclusions. Opinions or preferences will not receive a
formal response. However, they will be considered and included as part of the BLM
decision making process.
This Draft EIS was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act and
applicable regulations, and other applicable statutes, to address possible environmental and
socioeconomic impacts that could result from this project. This Draft EIS is not a decision
document. Its purpose is to inform the public and the agency decision makers of the impacts
of leasing the Eagle Butte West Tract of Federal coal to the existing Eagle Butte Mine in the
Wyoming Powder River Basin and to evaluate alternatives to leasing the Federal coal
included in the tract as applied for.
Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public
review at the address listed below during regular business hours (7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m.),
Monday through Friday, except holidays, and will be published as part of the Final EIS.
Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or
street address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act,
you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests
will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their entirety.
Please send written comments to Bureau of Land Management, Casper Field Office, Attn:
Nancy Doelger, 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, WY 82604. Written comments may also be
e-mailed to the attention of Nancy Doelger at “[email protected]”. E-mail
comments must include the name and mailing address of the commentor to receive
consideration. Written comments may also be faxed to (307)-261-7587.
If you have any questions or would like to obtain a copy of the supplementary information
document or additional copies of this DEIS, please contact Nancy Doelger at (307) 261-
7627, or at the above address.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Bennett
State Director
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DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
EAGLE BUTTE WEST LBA TRACT CAMPBELL
TcCC
COUNTY, WYOMING ABSTRACT
Lead Agency: USDI Bureau of Land Management
Casper Field Office
Casper, Wyoming
Cooperating Agencies: USDI Office of Surface Mining Reclamation &
Enforcement Western Region
Denver, Colorado
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality
Land Quality Division and Air Quality Division
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Wyoming State Planning Office
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Wyoming Department of Transportation
Sheridan and Cheyenne, Wyoming
Campbell County Board of
Commissioners Gillette, Wyoming
For Further Information Contact: Nancy Doelger
Bureau of Land Management, Casper Field Office
2987 Prospector Drive
Casper, WY 82604
[phone]
Abstract:
This Draft Environment Impact Statement (EIS) assesses the environmental consequences of decisions
to hold a competitive, sealed-bid sale and issue a lease for a tract of federal coal located adjacent to an
existing surface coal mine in Campbell County, Wyoming, subject to standard and special lease
stipulations. The Eagle Butte West Lease by Application (LBA) Tract, as applied for by Foundation Coal
West, includes approximately 1,397.64 acres containing approximately 238 million tons of in-place
Federal coal. Foundation Coal West, the operator of the adjacent Eagle Butte Mine, proposes to mine the
tract as a maintenance lease for the existing mine, if a lease sale is held and they acquire the lease.
This Draft EIS describes the physical, biological, cultural, historic, and socioeconomic resources in and
around the existing mine and the LBA tract. The alternatives in the Draft EIS consider the impacts of
leasing the tract as it was applied for; leasing a reconfigured tract in order to avoid bypassing Federal coal
or to increase competitive interest in the tract, and not leasing the tract. The focus for the impact analysis
was based upon resource issues and concerns identified during previous coal leasing analyses and public
scoping conducted for this lease application. Potential concerns related to development include impacts to
groundwater, air quality, wildlife, and nearby roads, occupied residences, a school and an airport.
Cumulative impacts related to ongoing surface coal mining and other proposed development in the
Powder River Basin of Wyoming are also of potential concern.
Other Environmental Review or Consultation Requirements:
This draft EIS, in compliance with Section 7(c) of the Endangered Species Act (as amended), identifies
any endangered or threatened species which are likely to be affected by the Proposed Action.
,
EAGLE BUTTE WEST COAL LEASE APPLICATION
DRAFT ENVIROMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
Prepared by
WWC Engineering
Sheridan, Wyoming
Under the Direction of
U.S. Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
Casper Field Office
Casper, Wyoming
and
Cooperating Agencies
U.S. Department of Interior
Office of Surface Mining
Western Region
Denver, Colorado
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality
Land Quality Division &
Air Quality Division
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Wyoming State Planning Office
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Wyoming Department of Transportation
Sheridan and Cheyenne, Wyoming
Campbell County Commissioners
Gillette, Wyoming
October 2006
'
.
Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Wyoming and on April 27, 2005, in
Gillette, Wyoming. At those
On December 28, 2001, RAG1 filed meetings, the PRRCT recommended
an application with the BLM for that the BLM continue to process
federal coal reserves in a tract the lease application.
located west of and immediately
adjacent to the Eagle Butte Mine in In order to process an LBA, the BLM
Campbell County, Wyoming, must evaluate the quantity, quality,
approximately three miles north of maximum economic recovery, and
Gillette, Wyoming (Figures ES-1 and fair market value of the federal coal
ES-2). The application, which was and fulfill the requirements of the
assigned case file number NEPA by evaluating the
WYW155132, is referred to as the environmental consequences of
Eagle Butte West coal lease leasing the federal coal.
application. RAG submitted
modifications to the application to To evaluate the environmental
the BLM on April 8, 2002 and again impacts of leasing the coal, the BLM
on October 16, 2003, which must prepare an EA or an EIS to
decreased the size of the lease evaluate the site-specific and
application area and increased the cumulative environmental and
coal volume. As currently applied socioeconomic impacts of leasing
for, the Eagle Butte West LBA Tract and developing the federal coal in
includes approximately 1,397.64 the application area. The BLM
acres and an estimated 238 million made a decision to prepare an EIS
tons of in-place coal reserves. for this lease application. BLM does
not authorize mining by issuing a
In August 2004, RAG finalized the lease for federal coal, but the
sale of the Eagle Butte Mine to FCW, impacts of mining the coal are
a directly held subsidiary of considered in this EIS because it is
Foundation Coal Corporation. In a logical consequence of issuing a
this EIS, the applicant for the Eagle maintenance lease to an existing
Butte West LBA Tract is referred to mine.
as FCW.
The EPA will publish a notice
This lease application was reviewed announcing the availability of the
by the BLM, Wyoming State Office, DEIS in the Federal Register. BLM
Division of Mineral and Lands will publish a Notice of Availability
Authorization, who determined that and Notice of Publ ic Hearing in the
the application and the lands Federal Register. A 60-day
involved met the requirements of the comment period on the DEIS will
regulations governing coal leasing commence with publication of the
on application at 43 CFR 3425.1. EPA’s Notice of Avail ability. The
The PRRCT reviewed this lease BLM’s Federal Register notice will be
application at public meetings held used to solicit public comments on
on May 30, 2002, in Casper, the DEIS and on the fair market
value, the maximum economic
recovery, and the proposed
1 Refer to page xv for a list of abbreviations competitive sale of coal from the
,
and acronyms used in this document._
Draft EIS Eagle Butte West Coal Lease Application ES-1
Executive Summary
SCALE: 1“= 10 MILES
Figure ES-1. General Location Map with Federal Coal Leases and LBA Tracts.
ES-2 Draft EIS, Eagle Butte West Coal Lease Application